To celebrate each of our core values, several employees have shared their thoughts on a particular core value.  This month, we are highlighting Joyful Accountability– take a look!

Nate Reagen, Office of the President

Drake International is accepting applications for FY2020 International Partnership Grants. Activities eligible for funding are listed below and include a variety of opportunities such as, visiting a partner institution, hosting a scholar, exploring a site for a J-Term class, hosting a delegation, and more. The grant deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 12. Contact Julie Yankey at julie.yankey@drake.edu for additional details. Apply today.

Eligible International Partners:

• Wiener Neustadt, Austria
• Universidad de los Andes, Chile
• Minzu University, China
• Sichuan International Studies University, China
• Southwest University of Political Science and Law, China
• University of International Business and Economics, China
• University of Clermont Auvergne, France*
• University of Nantes, France*
• Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, India
• Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan
• Kosovo (agreement is with Ministry of Education)
• Tec de Monterrey, Mexico
• University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
• Makerere University Business School, Uganda

Please note those denoted with (*) indicate partners with more restricted grant funding; contact Julie Yankey at julie.yankey@drake.edu for clarification.

Eligibility and Criteria for Funding:
Full-time faculty and staff are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to proposals that:

• • Further relevant portions of the University’s Continuous Improvement Plan and the unit’s global engagement indicators in specific and identifiable ways.
  • Broaden or deepen the faculty/staff member’s knowledge of a particular strategic international partner.
  • Advance Drake’s global engagement with our partners in new ways: such as international travel seminars, creating original activities with existing partners, global curriculum development, building upon previous activity, etc.
  • Explain how proposed activities will have specific teaching, research, and service outcomes for student learning, faculty and staff development, and Drake.
  • Are financially supported by the academic unit of the individual submitting the grant.

Julie Yankey, Drake International 

Drake International is proud to announce that the Teach in China program has been rebranded to Working Worldwide. We have made this change to include our growing opportunities in Kosovo. The China program is still as strong as ever and still offers the same amazing opportunity to live and work abroad while teaching English. To learn more, visit our website or follow us on Instagram: @drakeworkingworldwide.

Please contact Stephanie Dana Ely at stephanie.dana@drake.edu with any questions.

Stephanie Dana Ely, Drake International

Reminder: The online course, Drake University Online Information Security Awareness and Prevent Sexual Violence Together, is to be completed by faculty and staff by Dec. 7. The Prevent Discrimination and Harassment Together course is to be completed by March 31.

These new online programs underscore Drake’s commitment to the safety and security of our people. You’ll view realistic scenarios based in a higher education setting and interactively answer related questions.

Training is completed at your own pace and the courses may be accessed multiple times. Courses retain previously completed content and will return you to the place you last viewed course information. The Blackboard system will electronically record your status as “completed” when you finish each course.

Course Access
Log in to myDrake and click the Blackboard app in the shaded blue area near the top of the screen. Click Agree and Continue at the pop-up screen describing Privacy, Cookies and Terms of Use. Next, enter your Drake Banner numeric ID and password and you’ll be directed to the Blackboard home page. The courses are listed in the My Courses area of the page.

Need Help?
The home page of Blackboard includes a link to On Demand Help topics. If you experience technical issues click the Blackboard Issues link in the Bb Student News section of the home page and submit your request. For questions about course content contact Peter Lundstedt, director, Information Security and Compliance; Kathryn Overberg, Title IX coordinator and equity and inclusion policy specialist; or Mary Alice Hill, director, HR Partner Services.

Mary Alice Hill, Human Resources

The final Friday FYS lunch/discussion is Dec. 7 at noon in TMR 133.  While these meetings are designed for those currently teaching FYS, we welcome those with an interest in possibly teaching FYS in the future.  If you would like to attend please go to: https://fyslunchdec.eventbrite.com and select your lunch preference.

Art Sanders, Associate Provost

The next session in a series on Grant Writing and Research is Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 3:30 p.m. in the Drake Room. The topic of this session is: “How to Prepare IRB Requests.”  Anyone is welcome to attend.  Participation in previous sessions is not required. There is no need to register.

Art Sanders, Associate Provost

It is a best practice to book international travel by contacting a Short’s agent directly rather than booking online. The agents have extensive experience and can find you the best connections at the best pricing.  They can be reached at 877-263-2550.

Also, a reminder that Short’s online portal does not have access to the Southwest Airlines special internet only fares. Short’s may not be able to meet pricing on those fares but will book your ticket at the lowest possible fare they do have available. Note: although Southwest Airlines special internet only fares are not available on Short’s online portal, you can get these fares by contacting a Short’s Travel Agent at 877–263–2550.

If you have a chance, it is a good idea to look up all of your personal frequent flyer account numbers and enter them into your profile.

Caron Findlay, Purchasing and Business Services

There are several dates left in 2018 to learn about the progress of current technology projects. The ITS project management team is also already planning for 2019. Please join us for a 15-minute call scheduled for every other Thursday at 10 a.m. on the following dates:

2018
November 29
December 13

2019
January 10
January 24

A full list of 2019 dates can be found on the campus calendar at calendar.drake.edu.

There are two different ways to connect to the meeting:

To both hear and see the presentation, go to the Blackboard Collaborate link and follow the on-screen instructions. Need assistance? See the Join the Bi-Weekly ITS Project Update Meeting (How To) article.

For audio only, call 571-392-7650 and enter PIN# 9060694541.

Contact Kris Brewster, Keren Fiorenza, or Jeff Regan with any questions.

Kris Brewster, ITS

There is an increasing need for online collaboration tools at Drake. This includes everything from shared documents, calendars, announcements, email distribution lists, and conversation tools. ITS has been exploring options that could enable easier collaboration across campus. After careful evaluation, Microsoft Teams (or Teams) stands out as the best option for the University. Teams already exists within our Office 365 platform and integrates seamlessly with other tools we use on campus. Microsoft Teams is a product that combines tools and resources like group chat, calendars, and file sharing to create one location for meaningful teamwork. ITS is just launching an initiative to consolidate the tools and infrastructure used for group work and file sharing into one intuitive and cross-functional system.

The project team has created Microsoft Teams for a few campus organizations and is creating an initial schedule to roll out Teams to departments and other collaborative groups. For each new site, we will work closely with the group to begin using tools, review any existing shared file storage, and migrate shared files to the Cloud as needed.

We will keep you informed on the progress of this project. You can also check the project’s weekly status and watch for regular updates in OnCampus. There’s also a FAQ on the project, which shares more details.

Jeff Regan, ITS